Abstract:
The population located along Mono River in the Yoto district faces great challenges in terms of repeated
flood disasters in recent years. This paper aims at assessing the conditions which influence
flood damage in the study area by using indicators to compute a Flood Vulnerability Index (FVI).
The study relies on Turner et al.’s vulnerability framework and distinguishes three main components
(exposure, susceptibility and resilience) that allow a more in-depth analysis and interpretation
of local indicators. As a result flood disaster in the study area is not only due to the extreme
variability in terms of flood magnitude and frequency in the Mono River, but also to the interaction
between human and the environment. The lack of vegetation along the river bank, the closeness
of households’ farmlands to the river body, the type of construction and the position of settlements,
the household size, the low level education of household head, the lack of diversification
of livelihood strategies, the lack of adequate flood warning system, the lack of willingness and
ability to take responsive actions coupled with inadequate emergency services, are identified as
main determinants increasing communities’ vulnerability to flood disaster. Furthermore, the computation
of Flood Vulnerability Index (FVI) offers easy comparison of communities’ vulnerability
to flood disaster and pinpoints the most vulnerable communities. At the end of the study, flood
exposure, susceptibility, resilience and vulnerability maps were generated.
